บท 27: Morning with Freya
(Garth POV)
Freya was woken up a few hours later by the sun peaking into our room. Her hair sparkled as it caught the morning rays and she sat up in bed stretching in a provocative way while keeping a side-eye on me.
I was getting into my adventurers gear and had just finished clicking on my vambraces. I acknowledged her with a bright smile as beauty incarnate returned it with an even more radiant one.
"Morning Freya. How are you?"
"Morning Garth. I'm fine, just still a little sleepy." she said as she yawned.
"It'll wear off in time. If I understand it right, you need to be over at the Hostess in a bit. So it might be wise to just get up."
She looked over to the side awkwardly. I narrowed my eyes at her playfully.
"What?"
"...I'm going to have trouble walking there."
I grinned at her cheekily as she gave me a playful frown.
"Sorry. I was enjoying myself a little too much and just got a little carried away."
"Well, are you going to do something about it? It is your fault." She asked while folding her arms challengingly.
I turned my back to her and held my hand up.
"Nope. You'll be just fine. And if you're not up for it, you could always just get Allen to carry you there."
She pouted angrily.
"If you're not going to be responsible for this, I fear for the day when we have our child."
"That's a low one. And that's an entirely different matter. I would never abandon nay child I have, regardless of how much of a responsibility it would be." I muttered.
"So if you can take responsibility for that, why won't you take some for this?"
"Because you're being a child Freya. You can walk just fine. It's never bothered you before now. What's gotten into you today?"
She huffed a little and looked away from me even though I was not facing her. I smiled at her. Despite her antics, I was really glad I got to see this side of her. She honestly was just a big child when it came to everything that was not business or Familia related.
I wondered if this was the real Freya, the one that could not be seen by the public as such a carefree and immature attitude would no doubt drag her name down as well as that of her children. One thing was for sure, whenever we were having our moments together, she acted way different than she did elsewhere.
My eyes widened as I suddenly guessed why she was being cranky. I turned back to her with a teasing smile on my face.
"This isn't because of my trip today is it Freya?"
She whipped her head back around and fixed me with a stare.
"No. Why would you think that?"
"I don't know. I've just heard of instances where wives like to annoy their husbands before they go out on a long trip just because they're going to feel lonely without them.?
"I'm not going to feel lonely! I-I...I just don't like you going amongst a group of women who obviously adore you." She pointed a finger at me. "And you reciprocate some of their feelings!"
"I did tell you I was building a harem didn't I?"
She grasped her scalp and groaned.
"That again? What have I told you? I can't allow that!"
"Why not?"
"Because you're MY Odr!"
I stared at her a little sadly.
"Freya...is that all I mean to you? Just a man of prophecy that you lay claim to like some sort of possession?"
She gained a shocked look on her face.
"What? No...of course not!"
"Then why do you have a problem with it? Because I'm pretty sure it goes beyond just jealousy."
She looked down and fiddled with her hands. She mumbled a little something I couldn't hear.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you."
"She sighed and looked at me sadly.
"I'm a goddess of Love Garth. I can appreciate you giving your love to so many women at once as I know it would be genuine. And it ties in with the very thing I embody." She looked away from me.
"It's just that I've waited for you for so long. I spent so many ages just waiting for my beloved to come to me. Can you blame me for being upset that he expresses interest towards other women just a week after he finally comes to me. It makes me feel that you've already grown tired of me."
I walked over to her side of the bed and held her face.
"Hey." I said while turning her chin to face me. "I have not grown tired of you. Not one bit. I haven't even got o explore EVERY part of you yet. Don't think I'm just going to disregard you when I have expressed other interests. You will always mean to me what you mean to me now. My love for you will never lessen, no matter what."
She stared at me silently. I returned the gaze with the most emotional and heartful one I could give. Her eyes flickered over my face before they focused on my chest.
Now that she'd marked me with her Falna, she was able to see my soul whenever she pleased, even without the skill being activated. She examined it before sighing.
"I know. There's not hint of lies in your words. Just..." she gave me a pleading look. "...please spend more time with me before you go after anyone else, okay?"
I nodded.
"Of course."
She smiled before her face hardened and she pointed a sharp finger nail at me.
"And I WILL be head wife, you hear me? That is my right, and any girl that wants to join the family can only do so with my approval. Okay?"
I withdrew a little at the ferocity in her words.
'Well...doesn't she remind me of that succubus?'
"Of course. As long as you're okay with it, then I have no objections."
She huffed and folder her arms while closing her eyes. She then opened one eye and looked at me inquisitively.
"So are you going today then?"
"Yes. It's still a bit before noon when I have to meet the Loki Familia. Just want to get there a little early. Maybe grab some breakfast on the way. Who knows?"
"How long will you be down there for?"
I rubbed my chin in thought.
"Hard to say. If Finn has decided that they will be going to the Deep Floors as well, then it's most likely going to be a long expedition. Probably a month long as that's a minimum amount of time it takes for such a large group to go back and forth."
"They have never gone past the 59th floor as far as I'm aware. In fact, they've never even reached it. Think you'll be okay down there?"
I threw my head back in laughter.
"Are you serious? Have you seriously forgotten exactly who you're talking to?"
I pointed a thumb at myself.
"Level 999,999 remember? I'll be totally fine."
"I know. But you've only ever been to the dungeon once and covered the entirety of its Upper floors. You have not even traversed the Middle or Lower floors, forget the Deep floors. You have researched them, correct."
I nodded my head. I hadn't read much from the guild books or paid much attention to Misha's lessons, but I was armed with a lot of Wiki knowledge from Earth. Although it probably lacked when comparing to the real experience, there was no way any monster in there was planet buster level.
"I'll be fine Freya. I've read all there is about the dungeon to date. Putting aside my insane durability and my magic, I'm sure I'm well prepared."
Freya sighed and shook her head.
"It's not the dungeon I'm worried about harming you. It's YOU yourself."
"Me?" I asked pointing to myself in confusion.
"Yes. Did you know that the dungeon reacts to the ones who walk its depths. And it reacts rather specifically as well."
"What do you mean 'specifically'?"
"The dungeon can read the minds of adventurers to a certain extent. That's how it figures out how to break the adventurer."
I raised an eyebrow. I'd never heard this before. Surely something like this would have existed or been mentioned in canon?
"Why? How so?"
Freya suddenly fell backwards onto the bed, pulling me with her and making me collapse next to her. She turned on her side and lay her hand on my chest as she spoke.
"The dungeon will do whatever it takes to get rid of as many foreign invaders as it can. It will do this by using a person's fears and experiences against them." She stared me in the eye. "I know how powerful you are. But if you even have the slightest bit of fear, or possess any bit of harmful knowledge, the dungeon will weaponize it against you and all who accompany you."
"How exactly does it do that?"
"I don't know. The dungeon acts unpredictably at times. And it does the strangest things. What I'm trying to say is just don't be reckless and always keep your guard up no matter how strong you are. There are ways to kill a person without actually having to kill them."
"Such as?"
She moved in closer to me and put her face near mine.
"You take away what they love."
I rose my eyebrow. She sighed exasperatedly.
"I know you have an interest in the Sword Princess, Odr. What I'm trying to say is that if not for your own sake, then at least for hers...be careful."
"Way to just call me out on it. Does she pass your test of approval?"
Freya hummed in thought.
"Well there honestly is nothing bad with her, so I don't necessarily see a problem. Just make sure you don't rush it. I am not willing to share just yet."
"Roger that."
"Hm? Who's Rodger?"
"...I need to stop forgetting I'm in another world."
"And you need to stop forgetting about your duties Odr." She climbed on top of me and leaned down to dangerously whisper in my ears.
"We still have some unfinished business..."
---
"Yare Yare Daze."
I muttered as I patted down my hair as I walked towards Babel. It was very close to noon now as the sun neared its peak. I should have been there much earlier but due to Freya wanting a proper 'goodbye', I'd been kept back at the meteor tower for nearly two hours.
"That woman has an obsession with grappling my hair. And I didn't even get to have breakfast either." I moaned. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day. I mean I had some homemade treats and ingredients stored away in my inventory for later use.
But on a day like this which was going to be full of work, especially of the vigorous kind like adventuring, one needed to have a meal packed with the necessary vitamins and nutrients to pull you through the day.
"If only I could've gotten a full English...but nobody around here knows what to do."
My mouth watered at the thought of the baked beans, the sausage and eggs and deliciously buttered toast with the mushrooms and bacon...paired with fresh orange juice and you had the best hearty breakfast perfect for a good day's work.
"Maybe I should have wished to bring dad with me. His cooking was the best."
Although looking back, there would be no way he'd allow me into the dungeon. He'd probably force me to become a farmer or a postman or a merchant.
I mean I was down to smashing the skulls of anybody that tried to tell me what to do but when it comes to your parents, you just...can't.
So it was probably better that he wasn't here. My cooking was decent. And it would only get better over time, although my specialty was desserts.
'I wonder how they're all doing now.'
It was strange thinking about them after so long. I'd been so absorbed in the wonders and fantasies of my new life, I'd given no thought to my family back home.
I didn't really have the best relationship with them. I was always the odd one out because of my temper and because of my interest's. Mom wanted me to be a dentist, dad wanted me o be an engineer and my sisters always used me as a scapegoat.
Me, I just wanted to live happy and be whatever I wanted to be.
But my parents had none of it and forced me to do well in studies. And the fact I used to get top grades on average anyway just didn't seem to satisfy them.
They were the type who set a target and then when you met those certain targets, their attitude would be like,
'You couldn't even bother to try harder? Just because we set you a specific target, you should've taken the initiative and delivered even better. That's what a good son would do.'
Can anybody relate?
'Well you can shove it right up there now can't you?' I thought angrily. 'While I become rich and famous and become the master of my own eternal life, you will both forever be destined to serve under someone else, slaving away until you drop dead from your incredibly short lives. Serves you right!'
I had more money than some Familias combined, I had good looks and unimaginable power and I had a beautiful caring wife to call my own. I had achieved more in this world than my family could dream of.
Perhaps the powers came on a plate but I did woo Freya the night I created the tower. And I did work vigilantly to maximise the benefits from the meteorite fragments. And now I was taking on an actual job at the moment. As far as I was concerned, I was doing better than they would ever be able to.
"That reminds me, Freya really does want a child, preferably a boy she told me. We have been trying to have one quite a bit lately, but it seems her physiology is living up to the claims, both from herself and from the Light Novels."
I flourished my cape and banished the thoughts of my family from my head. Negative thoughts like that would not help me better my life. So it was best not to dwell on them.
I had a new family now. And though it consisted only of Freya at the moment, I was hellbent on making sure our bond embodied itself in the form of a child. I was wondering if I should use Orlen's power on her but I wasn't sure if I should. There's no telling how she would react to a World Item, and I wasn't keen on revealing my trump card anytime soon, possibly ever.
People stared at me as I walked by them, pointing and whispering. I sighed tiredly, having become fed up of it all. I was too tired to get worked up over it. Though maybe the weapon in my hand was what was drawing more attention now.
Over my left shoulder was resting the giant cleaver I'd created on my first day arriving in this world. I still had Gale along with a multitude of other weapons in my inventory that I was yet to try out, but I thought that I might just give this one a try. Since it was just made from iron, it was bound to break the deeper we went. Sooner that happened, the sooner I could pull something more... 'exotic' out.
I soon reached Babel and found a familiar group of people next to others with carts, sacks and crates. They looked as if more people were joining them soon. They looked up at me as I approached them, their eyes shifting to look at my weapon momentarily before redirecting their gazes at me.
"Hey guys. Down to go yet?" I waved to them.
"Hey Garth." The Loki executives unanimously said with the exception of Bete. He just stared at me nervously as sweat formed on his face before he averted his eyes and looked at a random adventurer.
"So you did come after all." Ais said smiling as she came closer to me. "Is that a new weapon?"
"Yep." I smiled back at her.
"It's very big."
(A/N. You know what to do here boys ;) )
"Thank you. I thought I'd try out a new weapon. See how it goes you know? It's my first expedition after all, so a prime opportunity to see exactly what kind of weapons I click with."
"Well it's good to have you here." Tiona said to me as she hugged my arm.
"As much of a blockhead you can be, I have to admit it's going to be exciting having you around." Tione said as she lightly punched my chest and smiled.
Well probably lightly for me. But seeing as how each blow was creating distortions in the air, it was probably safe to assume that a normal person would find a hole in their chest about now.
I looked over at Riveria.
"Well Riveria? You looking forward to anything in particular about this trip?"
"Yes as a matter of fact. When I heard you were coming, I was hoping that I could study a little magic with you once we reach the safe zone on the 18th floor."
"No problem. I'm looking forward to working with you."
"As am I." Riveria smiled.
The twins suddenly looked at me mischievously.
"What?" I asked them.
"You owe us a spar." They said simultaneously.
"I don't recall ever agreeing to such a thing with you girls."
"But it's no fair." Tiona pouted hugging my arm tighter. "Ais got to fight you and improve her stats so quickly. Why can't we do the same?"
"Yeah. You said you're a fist fighter right?" Tione said to me. "I want to have a little fisticuff with you as well."
I sighed relentingly.
"Alright ladies, when we get to the safe zone, we'll fight as well. Though I must warn you, even though I have to hold back when equipped with a weapon..." I lifted a hand and quickly clenched it into a fist. It created a resounding bang as the air and ground shook a little violently around us. "...I'm infinitely more dangerous when I'm just using my hands."
The girls just licked their lips and bounced on their feet.
"We can hardly wait!"
Ais just smiled at them while Finn and Riveria shook their heads.
"By the way Finn." I called out to him. "Did you decide whether or not we'll be going deeper than the eighteenth floor?"
He nodded.
"Yes. At the very least, we're focused on dealing with Amphisbaena on this expedition. It spawning interval should be about now. We'll decide then whether or not we should move onwards."
"Sounds fun."
"By the way Garth, have you secured your supporter like I told you to?"
I shook my head, realizing I'd forgotten Finn's advice to me yesterday. I was caught up with other things so could I be blamed? Finn himself just made a sound of acknowledgement.
"In that case, go over there and see if any are up for hire." He pointed over to a cluster of adventurers.
"Sure." I stuck down my giant cleaver in front of Tione. "You wouldn't mind taking care of this for me would you?"
"No, not really. But why though?"
"I just figured it wasn't a good ide to hold that while trying to hire a supporter."
"Fair enough. Have you named it yet?"
"Nope. Maybe I'll find one in the dungeon. For now, I've gotta go secure me a supporter. In a bit." I gave them a peace salute and marched away. They just waved and Tione leant against the cleaver as they engaged in discussion amongst themselves.
As I passed by Bete, I stopped, making sure I had his attention. And did I have it alright. He looked at me nervously trembling.
"Look. I don't have any quarrel with you. Just stop acting so pissy and we'll be good, you and me. Got that?"
He nodded.
"Good. Catch you later mutt."
As I walked away, I heard him mutter.
"I said not to call me that."
---
I looked around for a supporter but they all seemed to be negotiating business with other adventurers. I kissed my teeth and silently cursed at my bad luck. If I'd been here earlier, I might've been able to snag one.
Then suddenly, a soft voice of a girl sounded behind me.
"Um, Mister? Are you looking for a supporter by any chance?"
I turned around to catch sight of a familiar face with a giant pack on her back.
"Oh. It's you again."
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Read a few chapters ahead on my P@treon:
P@treon/ Vulkizaro_Zoromi
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